ETA prisoner gives up hunger strike -report

MADRID, Feb 24 (Reuters) A convicted murderer belonging to Basque separatist group ETA has given up a hunger strike after a court cut his 12-year sentence for making terrorist threats to three years, a Spanish newspaper reported today.

Inaki de Juana Chaos, a former leading member of ETA, ended his three-month hunger strike over a week ago, El Mundo daily reported, citing sources close to the prisoner.

Officials at the Madrid hospital where De Juana is under guard were not immediately able to confirm the report.

De Juana has already served a 20-year sentence for the murder of 25 people in ETA attacks during the 1980s.

The decision by Spain's Supreme Court on February. 12 means De Juana could be freed within 10 months due to the time he has already served, Spanish media has reported.

De Juana led ETA's ''Madrid commando'', whose attacks included machine gunning three soldiers in a car, assassinating a rear admiral and planting a car bomb which killed 12 police officers in the group's fight for an independent Basque Country.

Pictures of his emaciated body tied to a Madrid hospital bed were published in the Spanish press earlier this month along with his call for the Spanish government to restart a push for ETA peace talks.

The peace process was called off after the group killed two people in a car bombing at Madrid's international airport in December.

REUTERS MS PM1647